Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey: Olympics experience will always stay with me

Aaron Ramsey has admitted representing Team GB at the London Olympics was a “great experience” which will live with him for the rest of his life.

The 21-year-old scored once in five appearances for Stuart Pearce’s side before the hosts were eliminated by South Korea at the quarter-final stage.

“It was a really great experience for me personally. It was good to play in that tournament mode – I haven’t done that before,” Ramsey told Arsenal’s website.

“We were disappointed with the way it went in the end but it went to penalties and anything can happen there.

“Overall it was a great experience and all of the athletes did tremendously well. It will stay with me now for the rest of my life.”

Ramsey has scored nine goals in 108 appearances for the Gunners since completing a £4.8m move from Cardiff City to The Emirates in 2008.

The Arsenal midfielder is currently Wales captain, and after experiencing the Olympics, Ramsey has set his sights on qualifying for a major tournament with Wales.

“It was definitely different [to playing for Wales],” he said. “Obviously Wales haven’t made the finals of a competition yet so it was different playing three games in a week.

“Just the whole tournament mode is different. One of the things I have learned about is how to manage yourself when you are in that mode.

“Hopefully Wales can do that one day and we can qualify for a championship. There will be a few Welsh players who know what is required to handle that situation now.”